Nervous Gender

RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #174

Dark Entries are doing the world some huge favours right now, first with the Sylvester LP and now with the reissue of Nervous Gender (the original ‘synth-punk’ group) at the end of next month.

Nervous Gender formed in late 70s Los Angeles and were an important part of the local punk scene. For a more in-depth article on the band I recommend checking out Andi Harriman’s interview with two of the original members from 2014, when they started performing again with a new lineup. They played a bunch of shows, one of which was released by Subterranean Records as Live At Target in 1980. The LP also included music from e.g. Factrix and Flipper.

Subterranean have called themselves the first hardcore label in California and the first industrial label in the whole of the US. The following year, Nervous Gender’s sole album Music From Hell came out. Up until around 2002 you could still order it from the label’s old website. A video for “Cardinal Newman” has been floating around the web, but I’m not sure how many people would have seen it back in the day.

Apparently the original 13-track LP was recorded and mixed in a span of 36 hours. By that time front person Phranc had left the group. The new reissue includes a second LP gathering the tracks from Live At Target as well as other live recordings and demos. Original member Gerardo Velázquez passed away only 33 years old after fighting aids for a while.

The remastering was done in 2009 when the group self-released a cdr version of the album. In 2019 Nervous Gender was included on a compilation called Killed By Synth and a now we’re finally getting a proper vinyl reissue of Music From Hell.